New beginnings are afoot for news in Nanaimo, as Pattison Media officially unveiled NanaimoNewsMEOW on Tuesday, April 1. (NanaimoNewsMEOW Staff)

By NanaimoNewsMEOW Staff

everything meowmo

NanaimoNewsNOW evolving local ‘mews’ coverage in Nanaimo & Oceanside

Apr 1, 2025 | 12:02 AM

NANAIMO — After nearly nine years of tireless and complete coverage of local news on central Vancouver Island, NanaimoNewsNOW is seizing the meowment to evolve and move furward.

Effective immediately, we have re-branded to NanaimoNewsMEOW and will exclusively tell pawsome stories about local cats, their achievements and impact on community.

News Director Alex Rawnsley said the move is a major step forward for the organization.

“When this direction was first raised, I thought ‘you’ve gotta be kitten me!’ But this is very much about the community discourse in Nanaimo. It’s focusing on what people are passionate about and how we can best serve the region. It’s not so good for me personally, I’m very allergic to cats.”

To aid in the reporting, NanaimoNewsMEOW has added two new staff reporters, Whiskers and Admiral Meowington III.

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Whiskers will mainly cover local events, including the local mewsic scene, as well as its hisstory around the Nanaimo region.

Admiral Meowington will continue the publication’s long track record of criminal justice reporting, by focusing on cat-related clawenforcement and purrpatrators.

“Meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow,” Whiskers said on the changes. “Meow meow meow meow meow.”

A new logo and modified positioning statement will help guide local cat news coverage moving forward. (NanaimoNewsNOW Staff)

These two additions, along with an existing team with a combined 80+ years of news and media industry experience, will continue to make NanaimoNewsMEOW a furmidable presence in the local media landscape.

Coverage started befur Tuesday’s announcement, with the expanded NanaimoNewsMEOW team publishing three articles aligned with the new direction.

• New active transportation lanes have Nanaimo cats ‘feline’ good
• Nanaimo cats furious over animal control bylaw harassment
• ‘Best paws in the game:’ Nanaimo cathlete wins triple gold at MICE

Editor’s Note: April Fools….obviously! Given the current state of the world, we felt we need to bring something outlandishly silly today and we hope this gave you a bit of a chuckle. Somewhat reluctantly, we are staying true to our regular scope of reliable, local news coverage.

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